HB3304ham002 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Fred Crespo

Filed: 4/8/2019

10100HB3304ham002 LRB101 09747 AXK 59365 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3304

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3304, AS AMENDED, by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Sections 10-20.69, 22-85, and 34-18.61 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/10-20.69 new)

Sec. 10-20.69. Sexual abuse investigations at schools. Each school district must adopt and implement a policy addressing sexual abuse investigations at schools consistent with Section 22-85.

(105 ILCS 5/22-85 new)

Sec. 22-85. Sexual abuse at schools.

(a) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) investigation of a child regarding an incident of sexual abuse can induce significant trauma for the child;

(2) it is desirable to prevent multiple interviews of a child at a school; and

(3) it is important to recognize the role of Children's Advocacy Centers in conducting developmentally appropriate investigations.

(b) In this Section:

"Alleged incident of sexual abuse" is limited to: (i) an incident of sexual abuse of a child that is alleged to have been perpetrated by school personnel, including a school vendor or volunteer; (ii) an alleged incident of sexual abuse of a child that occurred on school grounds or during a school activity; or (iii) when school personnel became aware of an alleged incident of sexual abuse of a child perpetrated by school personnel, a school vendor, or a school volunteer that occurred outside of school grounds or a school activity.

"Appropriate law enforcement agency" means a law enforcement agency whose employees have been involved, in some capacity, with an investigation of a particular alleged incident of sexual abuse.

(c) If a mandated reporter within a school has knowledge of an alleged incident of sexual abuse, the reporter must call the Department of Children and Family Services' hotline immediately after obtaining the minimal information necessary to make a report, including the names of the affected parties and the allegations. The State Board of Education must develop and make available materials detailing the information that is necessary to enable notification to the Department of Children and Family Services of an alleged incident of sexual abuse. Each school must ensure that mandated reporters review the State Board of Education's materials under this subsection at least once annually.

(d) For schools in a county with an accredited Children's Advocacy Center, every alleged incident of sexual abuse that is reported to the Department of Children and Family Services' hotline or a law enforcement agency must be referred by the entity that received the report to the local Children's Advocacy Center pursuant to that county's multidisciplinary team's protocol under the Children's Advocacy Center Act for investigating child sexual abuse allegations.

(e) A county's local Children's Advocacy Center must, at a minimum, do both of the following regarding a referred case of an alleged incident of sexual abuse:

(1) Coordinate the investigation of the alleged incident, as governed by the local Children's Advocacy Center's existing multidisciplinary team protocol and according to National Children's Alliance accreditation standards.

(2) Facilitate communication between the multidisciplinary team investigating the alleged incident of sexual abuse and, if applicable, the referring school's (i) Title IX officer, or his or her designee, (ii) student resource officer, and (iii) investigating body. This facilitation of communication must, at a minimum, ensure that all applicable parties have each other's contact information.

(f) After an alleged incident of sexual abuse is reported to the Department of Children and Family Services or a law enforcement agency and while the criminal and child abuse investigations related to that alleged incident are being conducted by the local multidisciplinary team, the school relevant to the alleged incident of sexual abuse must comply with both of the following:

(1) It may not interview the alleged victim until after the completion of the forensic interview of that victim is conducted at a Children's Advocacy Center.

(2) It must inform the multidisciplinary team conducting the investigation of any and all information gathered pertaining to an alleged incident of sexual abuse.

(g) After completion of a forensic interview, the multidisciplinary team must notify the school relevant to the alleged incident of sexual abuse of its completion.

(h) To the greatest extent possible considering student safety and Title IX compliance, school personnel must view electronic recordings of a forensic interview of an alleged victim of an incident of sexual abuse instead of interviewing the alleged victim. School personnel must be granted viewing access to the electronic recording of a forensic interview conducted at an accredited Children's Advocacy Center for an alleged incident of sexual abuse only if the school receives (i) approval from the multidisciplinary team investigating the case and (ii) informed consent by a child over the age of 13 or the child's parent or guardian. Each county's local Children's Advocacy Center and multidisciplinary team must create a protocol for the approval and viewing process. At no time may the electronic recording of a forensic interview be given to a school's representatives without a court's protective order. The school's viewing of the electronic recording of a forensic interview may be granted only if it is used as a substitute for interviewing the alleged victim of sexual abuse.

(i) If, during the course of its internal investigation, the school determines that it needs to interview the alleged victim to successfully complete its investigation and the victim is under 18 years of age, a child advocate must be made available to the student and must be present during the school's interview. A child advocate may be a school social worker, a school psychologist, or a person in a position the State Board of Education has identified as an appropriate advocate for the student during a school's investigation into an alleged incident of sexual abuse.

(j) The Department of Children and Family Services must notify the relevant school when an agency investigation of an alleged incident of sexual abuse is complete. The notification must include information on the outcome of that investigation.

(k) The appropriate law enforcement agency must notify the relevant school when an agency investigation of an alleged incident of sexual abuse is complete. The notification must include information on the outcome of that investigation.

(l) This Section applies to all schools operating under this Code, including, but not limited to, public schools located in cities having a population of more than 500,000, a school operated pursuant to an agreement with a public school district, alternative schools operated by third parties, an alternative learning opportunities program, a public school administered by a local public agency or the Department of Human Services, charter schools operating under the authority of Article 27A, and non-public schools recognized by the State Board of Education.

(105 ILCS 5/34-18.61 new)

Sec. 34-18.61. Sexual abuse investigations at schools. The school district must adopt and implement a policy addressing sexual abuse investigations at schools consistent with Section 22-85.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2019.".